Method, system, and program product for transferring document attributes

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a method, system, and program product for transferring document attributes. Specifically, under the present invention, a change to an attribute corresponding to a document archived in a content storage system is received on an indexing system. In response to the change, an archival date corresponding to storage of the document in the content storage system is set to a current date. Also, a start date and an end date in an index transfer tool is set to the current date. Thereafter, the changed attribute is transferred to the content storage system based on a matching of the newly changed archival date with the set start and end dates.

TECHNICAL FIELD

In general, the present invention relates to (electronic) documentattribute transfer and storage. Specifically, the present inventionrelates to a method, system, and program product for transferringdocument attributes.

BACKGROUND

With the continued development of Information Technology (IT) andintegrated environments, electronic document archiving continues to growin popularity. In one implementation, an organization can maintain itsown content storage system, while using a third party system (e.g., anindexing system) to create an index that is stored in the indexingsystem (e.g., SAP) and later access documents. In this implementation,documents will be stored/archived in the content storage system from theindexing system using a document and index transfer tool/applicationthat integrates the indexing system with the content storage system. Oneexample of such a tool is Commonstore, which is commercially availablefrom International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) of Armonk, N.Y.

In general, when a document is desired to be archived, it will be“attached” using the document and index transfer tool (i.e., because youcan use an indexing system such as SAP to store documents into a contentstorage system without having to transfer any index information). Thetransferring of index information is generally necessitated by the needto be able to access the document outside the indexing system.

In any event, each document to be archived is typically assigned aunique identifier (e.g., a UID such as a hexadecimal string) in theindexing system prior to being archived in the content storage system.This allows the document to be later referenced/accessed from theindexing system using the UID. In addition, various document“attributes” can be specified. For example, if the document is acontract for services, possible attributes can include a contractnumber, a contract amount, a contact person, etc. These attributes willbe transferred to the content storage system along with the actualdocument for the reasons described above.

This allows a layperson to access a document using its attributesinstead of having to recall the document's unique identifier both insideand outside of the indexing system. In any event, when a document andits corresponding attributes are archived, an archival date (i.e., thedate on which it was archived) is saved.

On occasion, document attributes may change. For example, a document'scontact person may be changed. Such changes can be input into theindexing system using the index transfer tool, and then transferred tothe content storage system so that the archived document's attributescan be changed accordingly. Unfortunately, current approaches result inthe transfer of an overly-voluminous amount of information.Specifically, the transfer of attributes from the indexing system to thecontent storage system is currently based on the original archival datefor the corresponding document. For example, if a document and itsattributes are archived on Jan. 1, 1970, an archival date of Jan. 1,1970 will be assigned. If the attributes for that document are changedon Jan. 1, 2006, those changes must be propagated to the content storagesystem. However, the existing system bases the transfer of changes onthe original archival date. Therefore, all attributes for all documentsthat were archived between Jan. 1, 1970 and Jan. 1, 2006 will betransferred. Such an approach is inefficient and can waste valuablebandwidth.

In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for an approach thatsolves at least one of the deficiencies in the existing art.

SUMMARY

In general, the present invention provides a method, system, and programproduct for transferring document attributes. Specifically, under thepresent invention, a change to an attribute corresponding to a documentarchived in a content storage system is received on an indexing system.In response to the change, an archival date corresponding to storage ofthe document in the content storage system is set to a current date.Also, a start date and an end date in an index transfer tool is set tothe current date. Thereafter, the changed attribute is transferred tothe content storage system based on a matching of the newly changedarchival date with the set start and end dates. The present inventionalso allows the original archival date to be stored for futurereference. Still yet, the present invention will transfer any newattributes corresponding to newly added documents along with the changedattributes (e.g., in a batch mode). As will be further described below,the present invention can be implemented using any content storagesystem and any indexing system. Examples of an indexing system includeSAP, or any Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system such as thoseavailable from Peoplesoft®, Oracle®, etc.).

A first aspect of the present invention provides a method executed on acomputer device for transferring document attributes, comprising:receiving, on an indexing system, a change to at least one attribute ofa document stored in a content storage system, the document having aplurality of attributes, each attribute of the plurality of attributesdescribing a feature of the document, the document having a first datethat is initially set to a date that the document was originally storedin the content storage system; resetting the first date of the documentto a second date only in response to receiving the change to the atleast on attribute; saving the date that the document was originallystored for future reference; setting a start date and an end date of theindex transfer tool to the second date in response to receiving thechange to the at least one attribute, wherein the index transfer toolintegrates the indexing system with the content storage system;identifying the at least one attribute of the document that has beenchanged by using a matching of the first date, the start date, and theend date; and transferring only the identified changed attributes fromthe indexing system to the content storage system based on the matchingof the changed first date with the start date and the end date of theindex transfer tool.

A second aspect of the present invention provides a system fortransferring document attributes, comprising: a computer deviceincluding: a system for receiving, on an indexing system, a change to atleast one attribute of a document stored in a content storage system,the document having a plurality of attributes, each attribute of theplurality of attributes describing a feature of the document, thedocument having a first date that is initially set to a date that thedocument was originally stored in the content storage system; a systemfor resetting the first date of the document to a second date only inresponse to receiving the change to the at least one attribute; a systemfor saving the date that the document was originally stored for futurereference; a system for setting a start date and an end date of theindex transfer tool to the second date in response to receiving thechange to the at least one attribute, wherein the index transfer toolintegrates the indexing system with the content storage system; a systemfor identifying the at least one attribute of the document that has beenchanged by using a matching of the first date, the start date, and theend date; and a system for transferring only the identified changedattributes from the indexing system to the content storage system basedon the matching of the changed first date with the start date and theend date of the index transfer tool.

A third aspect of the present invention provides a computer programcomprising program code embodied in a non-transitory computer readablemedium, which when executed, enables a computer system to implement amethod of transferring document attributes, the method comprising:receiving, on an indexing system, a change to at least one attribute ofa document stored in a content storage system, the document having aplurality of attributes, each attribute of the plurality of attributesdescribing a feature of the document, the document having a first datethat is initially set to a date that the document was originally storedin the content storage system; resetting the first date of the documentto a second date only in response to receiving the change to the atleast one attribute; saving the date that the document was originallystored for future reference; setting a start date and an end date of theindex transfer tool to the second date in response to receiving thechange to the at least one attribute, wherein the index transfer toolintegrates the indexing system with the content storage system;identifying the at least one attribute of the document that has beenchanged by using a matching of the first date, the start date, and theend date; and transferring only the identified changed attributes fromthe indexing system to the content storage system based on the matchingof the changed first date with the start date and the end date of theindex transfer tool.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of this invention will be more readilyunderstood from the following detailed description of the variousaspects of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts an architectural diagram according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 depicts a more detailed view of the indexing system of FIG. 1according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 depicts an illustrative view of attributes for a documentaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 4 depicts a first illustrative view of index transfer settingsprior to being changed according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 depicts a second illustrative view of index transfer settingsafter being changed according to the present invention.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale. The drawings are merelyschematic representations, not intended to portray specific parametersof the invention. The drawings are intended to depict only typicalembodiments of the invention, and therefore should not be considered aslimiting the scope of the invention. In the drawings, like numberingrepresents like elements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As indicated above, the present invention provides a method, system, andprogram product for transferring document attributes. Specifically,under the present invention, a change to an attribute corresponding to adocument archived in a content storage system is received on an indexingsystem. In response to the change, an archival date corresponding tostorage of the document in the content storage system is set to acurrent date. Also, a start date and an end date in an index transfertool is set to the current date. Thereafter, the changed attribute istransferred to the content storage system based on a matching of thenewly changed archival date with the set start and end dates. Thepresent invention also allows the original archival date to be storedfor future reference. Still yet, the present invention will transfer anynew attributes corresponding to newly added documents along with thechanged attributes (e.g., in a batch mode). As will be further describedbelow, the present invention can be implemented using any contentstorage system and any indexing system. Examples of an indexing systeminclude SAP, or any Enterprises Resource Planning (ERP) system such asthose available from Peoplesoft®, Oracle®, etc.). An example of acontent storage system can be IBM's content storage server.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an architectural diagram 10 depicting therelationship between an indexing system 12 and a content storage system14 is shown. In general, (electronic) documents 11 can be archived incontent storage system 14 through indexing system 12 using an indextransfer tool 15. Specifically, using a program such as an indextransfer tool 15, a user (not shown) can input document attributes 13and “attach” documents 11 for archiving in content storage system 14.Document attributes 13 can include any type of data corresponding todocuments 11. For example, attributes 13 could be a contact person, areference number, etc. In any event, index transfer tool 15 will assigna unique identifier (UID) to each document 11, and then transferdocuments 11, attributes 13, and the UIDs to content storage system 14where they will be stored/archived. If a user later desires to access aparticular document 11, he/she can do so from either indexing system 12or content storage system 14 using the corresponding attributes 13and/or the UID for the document 11.

As indicated above, attributes 13 for a document 11 may periodicallychange. When changes occur, they can be made on indexing system 12 andthen transferred/propagated to content storage system 14. Unfortunately,previous approaches for transferring changes to attributes were based onthe original archival date for the attributes/corresponding documents11. Thus, if attribute “A” corresponding to document “X” was archivedten years ago, and attribute “A” was changed today, all attributesarchived during the ten year window would be transferred along with thechanged attribute “A.” Such a requirement is highly inefficient andwasteful. As will be described and shown below, the present inventionaddresses these issues.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a more specific computerized implementation 16of the present invention architecture 10 (FIG. 1) is shown. As depicted,implementation 16 shows indexing system 12 deployed within a computerinfrastructure 18. This is intended to demonstrate, among other things,that the present invention could be implemented within a networkenvironment (e.g., the Internet, a wide area network (WAN), a local areanetwork (LAN), a virtual private network (VPN), etc.), or on astand-alone computer system. In the case of the former, communicationthroughout the network can occur via any combination of various types ofcommunications links. For example, the communication links can compriseaddressable connections that may utilize any combination of wired and/orwireless transmission methods. Where communications occur via theInternet, connectivity could be provided by conventional TCP/IPsockets-based protocol, and an Internet service provider could be usedto establish connectivity to the Internet. Still yet, computerinfrastructure 18 is intended to demonstrate that some or all of thecomponents of implementation 16 could be deployed, managed, serviced,etc. by a service provider. It should be understood that although notshown, content storage system 14 could be implemented withininfrastructure 18 in addition to or in lieu of indexing system 12.

As shown, indexing system 12 includes a processing unit 20, a memory 22,a bus 24, and input/output (I/O) interfaces 26. Further, indexing system12 is shown in communication with external I/O devices/resources 28 andstorage system 30. In general, processing unit 20 executes computerprogram code, such as index transfer tool 15, which is stored in memory22 and/or storage system 30. While executing computer program code,processing unit 20 can read and/or write data to/from memory 22, storagesystem 30, and/or I/O interfaces 26. Bus 24 provides a communicationlink between each of the components in indexing system 12. Externaldevices 28 can comprise any devices (e.g., keyboard, pointing device,display, etc.) that enable a user to interact with indexing system 12and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enableindexing system 12 to communicate with one or more other computingdevices.

Computer infrastructure 18 is only illustrative of various types ofcomputer infrastructures for implementing the invention. For example, inone embodiment, computer infrastructure 18 comprises two or morecomputing devices (e.g., a server cluster) that communicate over anetwork to perform the various process steps of the invention. Moreover,indexing system 12 is only representative of various possible computersystems that can include numerous combinations of hardware. To thisextent, in other embodiments, indexing system 12 can comprise anyspecific purpose computing article of manufacture comprising hardwareand/or computer program code for performing specific functions, anycomputing article of manufacture that comprises a combination ofspecific purpose and general purpose hardware/software, or the like. Ineach case, the program code and hardware can be created using standardprogramming and engineering techniques, respectively. Moreover,processing unit 20 may comprise a single processing unit, or bedistributed across one or more processing units in one or morelocations, e.g., on a client and server. Similarly, memory 22 and/orstorage system 30 can comprise any combination of various types of datastorage and/or transmission media that reside at one or more physicallocations. Further, I/O interfaces 26 can comprise any system forexchanging information with one or more external devices 28. Stillfurther, it is understood that one or more additional components (e.g.,system software, math co-processing unit, etc.) not shown in FIG. 2 canbe included in indexing system 12. However, if indexing system 12comprises a handheld device or the like, it is understood that one ormore external devices 28 (e.g., a display) and/or storage system(s) 30could be contained within indexing system 12, not externally as shown.

Storage system 30 can be any type of system (e.g., a database) capableof providing storage for information under the present invention such asattributes, date settings, etc. To this extent, storage system 30 couldinclude one or more storage devices, such as a magnetic disk drive or anoptical disk drive. In another embodiment, storage system 30 includesdata distributed across, for example, a local area network (LAN), widearea network (WAN) or a storage area network (SAN) (not shown). Althoughnot shown, additional components, such as cache memory, communicationsystems, system software, etc., may be incorporated into indexing system12.

Shown in memory 22 of indexing system 12 is index transfer tool 15,which includes change reception system 42, archival date change system44, archival date recovery system 46, index date setting system 48,index date update system 50, attribute matching system 52, and attributetransfer system 54. It should be understood that index transfer tool 15can further include part or all of any type of index transfer tool thatis now known or later developed. For example, index transfer tool 15 canalso include some or all of the components of IBM's Commonstore™ thatare not shown in FIG. 2. In addition, although the systems shown in FIG.2 are depicted within or being part of index transfer tool 15, this neednot be the case. For example, some or all of the systems shown in FIG. 2could be implemented as a: (1) separate tool or program that works inconjunction with index transfer tool 15; (2) as a plug-in to indextransfer tool 15; etc.

In any event, assume in an illustrative example, that a set (at leastone) of documents 11 having a set of corresponding attributes 13 werepreviously archived in content storage system 14 using index transfertool 15. Referring to FIG. 3, a view 60 of illustrative attributes 13 isshown. As mentioned above, attributes 13 can comprise any type ofinformation corresponding to a document 11 (FIG. 2). For example,attributes 13 can include a corresponding company, hierarchy, category,type, function, work order, etc. Referring back to FIG. 2, furtherassume that at least one change to at least one attribute 13corresponding to a document 11 is needed. Under the present invention,such change(s) 36 will be received by change reception system 42. Uponreceipt, archival date change system 44 will set/change the originalarchival date corresponding to the storage of the document 11 in contentstorage system 14 to a current date. For example, if the document 11 wasstored on Jan. 1, 1970, and the current date is Jan. 1, 2006, archivaldate change system 44 will set/change the archival date of the document11 from Jan. 1, 1970 to Jan. 1, 2006. Archival date recovery system 46will save the original archival date of Jan. 1, 1970 for futurereference.

To facilitate the transfer of only “delta” and newly input attributes inaccordance with the present invention, index date setting system 48 willset a start date and an end date in index transfer tool 15 to thecurrent date (e.g., Jan. 1, 2006). Specifically, referring to FIG. 4, afirst index transfer view 70 provided by index transfer tool 15 (FIG. 2)is shown. In addition to other pieces of information such as acorresponding archive and profile, view 70 allows a start date 72 and anend date 74 to be designated. These dates are used by index transfertool 15 to transfer attributes 13 from indexing system 12 (FIG. 2) tocontent storage system 14 (FIG. 2). Specifically, as shown, prior tobeing set to the current date by index date setting system 48 inaccordance with the present invention, start date 72 is set to theoriginal archival date of the document 11 to which the attributes 13correspond.

Referring to FIG. 5, view 70 is shown after start date 72 and end date74 have been set by index date setting system 48 (FIG. 2). As can beseen, both start date 72 and end date 74 have been set to Jan. 1, 2006.As will be further explained below, this will cause only attributeschanged and/or originally entered on Jan. 1, 2006 to be transferred tocontent storage system 14 (FIG. 2). As further shown in FIG. 5,automatic update features 76 and 78 for start date 72 and end date 74,respectively, have been activated. This will cause the dates 72 and 74to be automatically updated to the current date is. This activation ofautomatic update features 76 and 78 is provided by functionality isprovided by index date update system 50.

Referring back to FIG. 2, once the dates are updated to the currentdate, attribute matching system 52 will determine which attributesshould by transferred to content storage system 14. This determinationwill be based on the current date. Specifically, attribute matchingsystem 52 will identify the attributes to be transferred by matching thearchival date as changed to the current date with the newly set startand end dates. Any attribute 13 having a three-way match between thearchival date, start date and end date is considered to be a newlychanged (or newly input) attribute 13 and subject to transferaccordingly.

Based on the results of the matching process, attribute transfer system54 will transfer the subject attributes 13 to content storage system 14for storage. As indicated above, attributes 13 changed and/or newlyadded on the current date will be transferred and stored in theappropriate records (e.g., those for the corresponding documents 11) incontent storage system 14.

The present invention is typically implemented using an index transfertool 15. Shown below is illustrative code for an existing index transfertool as modified in accordance with the present invention:

FORM update_attributes_and_tree using p_old_attributes structurezix_documents.  data answer.  select single * from zix_documents wherecontainer_id = p_old_attributes-container_id.  if sy-subrc = 0.  CALLFUNCTION ‘POPUP_TO_CONFIRM’   EXPORTING   TITLEBAR = ‘Change’(054)  TEXT_QUESTION = ‘Change Attributes?’(053)   TEXT_BUTTON_1 = ‘Yes’  TEXT_BUTTON_2 = ‘No’   DISPLAY_CANCEL_BUTTON = ‘’   IMPORTING   ANSWER= answer   EXCEPTIONS   TEXT_NOT_FOUND = 1   OTHERS = 2.  IF SY-SUBRC <>0. * MESSAGE ID SY-MSGID TYPE SY-MSGTY NUMBER SY-MSGNO *    WITHSY-MSGV1 SY-MSGV2 SY-MSGV3 SY-MSGV4.  ENDIF.  if answer = ‘1’.   CALLFUNCTION ‘Z_IX_COMDOC_ATTRIBUTES’   EXPORTING    MODE = ‘E’   P_OLD_ATTRIBUTES = p_old_attributes   IMPORTING    ACTION = answer  TABLES    CONTRACTS = itab_attcon   CHANGING    DOC = zix_documents.  if answer = ‘A’. * Update link table TOA01 for CM/CS * if attributesare changed.   select single * from toa01 into wa_toa01 where   arc_doc_id eq zix_documents-docid and sap_object eq   zix_documents-attachpoint and object_id eq zix_documents-   objectkey and archiv_id eq ‘Z2’.   if sy-subrc ne 0.    clearwa_toa01.   endif.   perform update_attcon tables itab_attcon.  move-corresponding zix_documents to wa_toa01.   update zix_documents.  wa_toa01-ar_date = sy-datum.   update TOA01 from wa_toa01.   ifsy-subrc ne 0.    message e014(zix_doi_docstore).   else.    performrefresh_tree.   endif.   endif.   endif.   if answer = ‘2’ or answer =‘X’.   CALL FUNCTION ‘Z_IV_WRITE_CHANGE_RECORD’   EXPORTING   ATTRIBUTE_REC  = zix_documents    OLD_ATTRIBUTE_REC =p_old_attributes    CHANGE_DOC_MODE  = ‘U’.  endif.  endif. ENDFORM. ‘’update_attributes_and_tree

While shown and described herein as a method, system, and programproduct for transferring document attributes, it is understood that theinvention further provides various alternative embodiments. For example,in one embodiment, the invention provides a computer-readable/useablemedium that includes computer program code to enable a computerinfrastructure to transfer document attributes. To this extent, thecomputer-readable/useable medium includes program code that implementseach of the various process steps of the invention. It is understoodthat the terms computer-readable medium or computer useable mediumcomprises one or more of any type of physical embodiment of the programcode. In particular, the computer-readable/useable medium can compriseprogram code embodied on one or more portable storage articles ofmanufacture (e.g., a compact disc, a magnetic disk, a tape, etc.), onone or more data storage portions of a computing device, such as memory22 (FIG. 2) and/or storage system 30 (FIG. 2) (e.g., a fixed disk, aread-only memory, a random access memory, a cache memory, etc.), and/oras a data signal (e.g., a propagated signal) traveling over a network(e.g., during a wired/wireless electronic distribution of the programcode).

In another embodiment, the invention provides a business method thatperforms the process steps of the invention on a subscription,advertising, and/or fee basis. That is, a service provider, such as aSolution Integrator, could offer to transfer document attributes. Inthis case, the service provider can create, maintain, support, etc., acomputer infrastructure, such as computer infrastructure 18 (FIG. 2)that performs the process steps of the invention for one or morecustomers. In return, the service provider can receive payment from thecustomer(s) under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or the serviceprovider can receive payment from the sale of advertising content to oneor more third parties.

In still another embodiment, the invention provides acomputer-implemented method for transferring document attributes. Inthis case, a computer infrastructure, such as computer infrastructure 18(FIG. 2), can be provided and one or more systems for performing theprocess steps of the invention can be obtained (e.g., created,purchased, used, modified, etc.) and deployed to the computerinfrastructure. To this extent, the deployment of a system can compriseone or more of (1) installing program code on a computing device, suchas indexing system 12 (FIG. 2), from a computer-readable medium; (2)adding one or more computing devices to the computer infrastructure; and(3) incorporating and/or modifying one or more existing systems of thecomputer infrastructure to enable the computer infrastructure to performthe process steps of the invention.

As used herein, it is understood that the terms “program code” and“computer program code” are synonymous and mean any expression, in anylanguage, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause acomputing device having an information processing capability to performa particular function either directly or after either or both of thefollowing: (a) conversion to another language, code or notation; and/or(b) reproduction in a different material form. To this extent, programcode can be embodied as one or more of: an application/software program,component software/a library of functions, an operating system, a basicI/O system/driver for a particular computing and/or I/O device, and thelike.

The foregoing description of various aspects of the invention has beenpresented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed, and obviously, many modifications and variations arepossible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to aperson skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scopeof the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.

1. A method executed on a computer device for transferring documentattributes, comprising: receiving, on an indexing system, a change to atleast one attribute of a document stored in a content storage system,the document having a plurality of attributes, each attribute of theplurality of attributes describing a feature of the document, thedocument having a first date that is initially set to a date that thedocument was originally stored in the content storage system; resettingthe first date of the document to a second date only in response toreceiving the change to the at least on attribute; saving the date thatthe document was originally stored for future reference; setting a startdate and an end date of the index transfer tool to the second date inresponse to receiving the change to the at least one attribute, whereinthe index transfer tool integrates the indexing system with the contentstorage system; identifying the at least one attribute of the documentthat has been changed by using a matching of the first date, the startdate, and the end date; and transferring only the identified changedattributes from the indexing system to the content storage system basedon the matching of the changed first date with the start date and theend date of the index transfer tool.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinthe indexing system comprises a Systems, Application and Products inData Processing (SAP) system.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein theindexing system comprises an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system.4. The method of claim 1, further comprising transferring, with thechanged attribute, a newly added attribute corresponding to a newdocument to be archived in the content storage system.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising saving the first date prior to the changing.6. The method of claim 1, further comprising activating an automaticupdate feature for the start date and the end date in the index transfertool.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising archiving thedocument and the attribute in the content storage system from theindexing system using the index transfer tool, prior to receiving thechange.
 8. A system for transferring document attributes, comprising: acomputer device including: a system for receiving, on an indexingsystem, a change to at least one attribute of a document stored in acontent storage system, the document having a plurality of attributes,each attribute of the plurality of attributes describing a feature ofthe document, the document having a first date that is initially set toa date that the document was originally stored in the content storagesystem; a system for resetting the first date of the document to asecond date only in response to receiving the change to the at least oneattribute; a system for saving the date that the document was originallystored for future reference; a system for setting a start date and anend date of the index transfer tool to the second date in response toreceiving the change to the at least one attribute, wherein the indextransfer tool integrates the indexing system with the content storagesystem; a system for identifying the at least one attribute of thedocument that has been changed by using a matching of the first date,the start date, and the end date; and a system for transferring only theidentified changed attributes from the indexing system to the contentstorage system based on the matching of the changed first date with thestart date and the end date of the index transfer tool.
 9. The system ofclaim 8, wherein the indexing system comprises a Systems, Applicationand Products in Data Processing (SAP) system.
 10. The system of claim 8,wherein the indexing system comprises an Enterprise Resource Planning(ERP) system.
 11. The system of claim 8, wherein the system fortransferring further transfers, with the changed attribute, a newlyadded attribute corresponding to a new document to be archived in thecontent storage system.
 12. The system of claim 8, further comprising asystem for saving the first date.
 13. The system of claim 8, furthercomprising a system for activating an automatic update feature for thestart date and the end date in the index transfer tool.
 14. The systemof claim 8, further comprising a system for archiving the document andthe attribute in the content storage system from the indexing systemusing the index transfer tool, prior to receiving the change.
 15. Acomputer program comprising program code embodied in a non-transitorycomputer readable medium, which when executed, enables a computer systemto implement a method of transferring document attributes, the methodcomprising: receiving, on an indexing system, a change to at least oneattribute of a document stored in a content storage system, the documenthaving a plurality of attributes, each attribute of the plurality ofattributes describing a feature of the document, the document having afirst date that is initially set to a date that the document wasoriginally stored in the content storage system; resetting the firstdate of the document to a second date only in response to receiving thechange to the at least one attribute; saving the date that the documentwas originally stored for future reference; setting a start date and anend date of the index transfer tool to the second date in response toreceiving the change to the at least one attribute, wherein the indextransfer tool integrates the indexing system with the content storagesystem; identifying the at least one attribute of the document that hasbeen changed by using a matching of the first date, the start date, andthe end date; and transferring only the identified changed attributesfrom the indexing system to the content storage system based on thematching of the changed first date with the start date and the end dateof the index transfer tool.
 16. The computer program of claim 15,wherein the indexing system comprises a Systems, Application andProducts in Data Processing (SAP) system.
 17. The computer program ofclaim 15, wherein the indexing system comprises an Enterprise ResourcePlanning (ERP) system.
 18. The computer program of claim 15, furthercomprising transferring, with the changed attribute, a newly addedattribute corresponding to a new document to be archived in the contentstorage system.
 19. The computer program of claim 15, further comprisingsaving the first date prior to the changing.
 20. The computer program ofclaim 15, further comprising: activating an automatic update feature forthe start date and the end date in the index transfer tool; and/orarchiving the document and the attribute in the content storage systemfrom the indexing system using the index transfer tool.